Twin Cities DSA

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2022 Chapter leadership roles

Positions:
Co-chair (2)
Recording Secretary
Technology Coordinator
Treasurer
Political Action Coordinator
Operations Coordinator
Political Education Coordinators (3)
Members At-Large (3)
Grievance Committee members (5)

Position descriptions:

Co-chair

Bylaw description: Section 2. Co-chairs

a. The Co-chairs shall be the chief executives of the TCDSA and shall serve as spokespersons when one is required. Co-chair responsibilities include:

  • Drafting agendas for Steering Committee and chapter meetings, with input from Steering Committee members
  • Facilitating Steering Committee and chapter meetings
  • Approving contents of the chapter newsletter before each edition is sent, or delegating to other Steering Committee members

From the current co-chairs:

Twin Cities’ co-chairs are part of the elected leadership of the chapter and help guide the chapter, as an organization and a culture. As Twin Cities DSA is a democratic organization, the co-chairs are not “in charge,” per se.

That said, Twin Cities DSA’s co-chairs have a few duties that are set by our bylaws — and some informal duties that have become a part of their work. The formal duties are:

  • Drafting agendas for our general meetings and chairing those meetings.
  • Representing the Chapter to the media, in coalition spaces, or other formations.
  • Scheduling and running meetings of TCDSA’s steering committee, which oversees functioning of the chapter and implements decisions made at the general meetings.
  • Maintaining member data and data access in coordination with the operations committee and our member data coordinator.
  • Coordinating with DSA national, including attending monthly virtual regional organizing meetings and being in contact with a regional field organizer.

Almost all of these duties can be delegated, generally in coordination with the steering committee.

Informal duties include:

  • Helping with operations, including setting up meetings, social media, the chapter newsletter, and formal statements from the chapter. 
  • Recruitment of leadership and guidance to members with questions on how the chapter operates.
  • Working with the grievance committee to resolve ongoing grievances within the chapter.

Other things you should know:

Recording Secretary

Bylaw description: Section 3. Recording Secretary

a. The Recording Secretary shall prepare and publish the agendas and minutes of all Regular Membership Meetings, the Annual Member Convention and Steering Committee Meetings.

b. The Recording Secretary shall keep an archive of all previous meeting agendas and minutes for at least three (3) years. Minutes of all membership and Steering Committee meetings will be shared electronically with the Steering Committee as soon as possible after the meeting. Members shall have access to the archive of minutes upon request.

c. The Recording Secretary will oversee any paper balloting or division at any meeting.

From the current recording secretary:

  • In practice, I am not solely responsible for preparing meeting agendas. Though I often compile them, agendas usually need input from several Steering Committee members. 
  • I publish agendas and minutes to the wiki at wiki.twincitiesdsa.org and post links to minutes on the chapter Slack; minutes are thereby available to all members any time, not only on request. 
  • The Tech Coordinator oversees any balloting for which we use OpaVote.
  • In cases where we need to send a chapter-wide email, I usually send it, although the chairs are free to delegate this task to another member.
  • I send out email notices for general meetings, which include an agenda synopsis and must be sent between 17 and 10 days ahead of the meeting date according to our bylaws.
  • When news or announcements need to be posted to the chapter website outside regular chapter newsletters, I often do this; the chairs are free to delegate this task too.
  • Time commitment: Variable, generally between 1 and 6 hours every week to attend meetings, compile and upload minutes, send out chapter communications, and stay in contact with the rest of Steering Committee.

Technology Coordinator

Bylaw description: Section 5. Technology Coordinator

a. The Technology Coordinator shall maintain the chapter’s technology, including the chapter website, databases, and chapter email addresses. The Technology Coordinator shall implement the chapter’s social media and technology policies. The Technology Coordinator shall assist with research into new software, systems, or hardware before adoption by the chapter.

b. The Technology Coordinator will be the chair of the Technology Committee, and will schedule meetings of that committee as required.

Treasurer

Bylaw description: Section 6. Treasurer

a. The Treasurer shall maintain records of the income, expenses, and budget of the TCDSA. The Treasurer will receive any money donated to the TCDSA (but not member dues owed to the National, which will be received by the Operations Coordinator if paid at a meeting) and will account for all received money.

b. TCDSA will shall maintain a checking account at a credit union and the signatories will be the Treasurer and at least one Co-chair. If TCDSA engages in any business causing taxes, rents, or fees to be due, the treasurer shall pay these from the assets of the TCDSA. If TCDSA engages in any electoral activity, the Treasurer will submit campaign reporting as needed.

c. The Treasurer will be the chair of the Budget Committee, and will schedule meetings of that committee as required.

Political Action Coordinator

Bylaw description: Section 8. Political Action Coordinator

a. The Political Action Coordinator shall plan and follow-through on all chosen programs of political advocacy for TCDSA. The Political Action Coordinator shall be, along with the Co-chairs, a liaison with any external groups that TCDSA shall choose to affiliate with, assist, or collaborate with.

b. The Political Action Coordinator will be the chair of the Outreach Committee, and will schedule meetings of that committee as required.

Operations Coordinator

Bylaw description: Section 4. Operations Coordinator

a. The Operations Coordinator shall maintain membership lists and contact lists, send notice of membership meetings and other communications on behalf of the chapter. At membership meetings, the Operations Coordinator shall register attendees, calculate and determine if there is a quorum, and provide ways for non-members to join. If a division or paper ballot is needed, the Operations Coordinator will assist the recording secretary by determining eligibility of all who vote.

b. The Operations Coordinator will be the chair of the Operations Committee, and will schedule meetings of that committee as required.

Political Education Coordinator

Bylaw description: Section 7. Political Education Coordinator

a. The Political Education Coordinator shall be a co-chair of the Political Education committee, which shall plan and follow-through on all chosen programs of political education for TCDSA.

Position Description: The political education coordinators are tasked with providing opportunities for people to become educated within the chapter. The person elected with the most votes as a political education coordinator is given a position on the Steering Committee, and is expected to attend Steering Committee meetings and be actively engaged with the committee. Responsibilities with political education and the system for determining how the political education committee roles are shared is left to the discretion of the political education coordinators.

Position Responsibilities: Being responsible for the chapter political education projects. They are currently (but not limited to):

  • Socialism 101
  • Capital Reading Group
  • DSA Library

A sample of past events include

  • Twin Cities DSA 101 (an explanation on how the chapter works)
  • Speakers
  • Movie nights
  • Other reading groups and discussion events, skill and story sharing from campaigns

Political Education Coordinators are not limited by this list of activities. They may expand upon this list as they determine is necessary, for example expanding to organizing trainings.

Members At-Large

Bylaw description: Section 9. Members at Large (three)

Section 9. Members at Large (three)

a. The three Members at Large shall represent the views of all members (at-large) on the Steering Committee. Member-at-Large responsibilities include:

Scheduling chapter meetings, with assistance and input from the Operations Committee

Working with Operations Committee and the rest of the Steering Committee to plan, give notice of, and set up chapter meetings

In the lead time before chapter meetings, facilitating ride-sharing and working to enhance turnout to the meetings

Participation on (chairing optionally) the Internal Organizing Committee, or convening an Internal Organizing Working Group if the Internal Organizing Committee does not exist

Sharing joint responsibility with the Operations Coordinator of the lists of current members

At general membership meetings, as part of the initial business on every agenda, the chairs will introduce the Members at Large and give out their contact information so that members will know whom to contact if they need representation or want to give feedback. Members at Large may optionally make a report at the membership meeting but are not required to do so as other officers.

b. At least one Member at Large must not be a cisgender male at any given time.

c. All Members at Large will serve as representatives of the interests of the entire membership body, with a special duty to represent any minority or marginalized groups within the membership.

From the current At-Large Members:

  • The position amounts to 2-5 hours per week. This includes attending Steering Committee and Internal Organizing Committee meetings, and contributing to the work of these committees between meetings
  • Prior experience with organizing or knowledge of how the chapter operates are not required. Instead, the ideal candidate is someone who is comfortable doing two things: asking for help, and asking other members to contribute to chapter work. 
  • Examples of work that the At-Large Members and Internal Organizing Committee do are new member phonebanks, social events, and creating other spaces, structures, and resources to initiate and sustain members’ active and healthy participation in chapter work

Grievance Committee members

See Grievance Process for full description

  • Grievance Committee members are nominated by the current Grievance Committee
  • Members interested in joining should contact grievances@twincitiesdsa.org or contact a committee member directly
  • Current GC members are
  • In fall 2022, there are five seats to fill